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Monday, September 10, 2018

Arcana Wildcraft and Smiles By Wedelstaedt: Dangerous Places

These soaps and perfumes were sent by Julia for free. I am choosing to review them. All opinions are my own.

Julia from Arcana Wildcraft and Brooke from Smiles By Wedelstaedt make for a dream team when it comes to creating fragrances and body treats. When Brooke ran Villainess, her and Julia made amazing collaborations and it thrills me that they are still creating magic together.

This particular magic resulted in the collection Dangerous Places which are inspired by locales that are shrouded in mystery and legend.

Brooke crafts decadent soaps using her own recipes and formulas with quality ingredients. They run $15 each and are cold processed with tons of decadent butters and oils such as palm oil, rice bran oil, coconut oil, castor seed oil, shea butter and mango butter. Silk is also in each soap for added shine, lather and smoothness.

I will briefly describe the scents and focus more on the feel of the soaps since I will be talking about the perfumes they correspond with below.

Death Valley and Raven Rock list the same ingredients on the label and they both feel extremely plush on the skin when showering with them. Death Valley has a subtle sweetness to its scent and lathers up beautifully. Raven Rock froths up in hues of indigo and slate with a deep rich scent. Both cut cleanly when chopping off slivers, they have a rubbery yet dense feel with flexibility. The lather produced from these two is thick and foamy and emollient. It slides on the skin with buttery ease like a hybrid of a bar of soap and a bar of lotion. Death Valley is smooth and satiny against the fingers and palms while Raven Rock has a little bit of texture. They rinse cleanly and leave no residue behind.

Bermuda Triangle has added Irish moss granules, dulse granules and kelp granules. This soap is smooth like a stingray fin with small blue chunks and cream chunks that have tiny botanical pieces, these may be the granules? They are sporadically spread so I wouldn't really call this an exfoliating soap, but the texture is neat where the bits are located. This soap has a sweet tropical fragrance. It suds into a lather that bubbles rather than foams on my skin. It still feels emollient and rinses cleanly.

Vatican Archives is augmented with honey. Vatican Archives has honey as a scent note so the added honey in the formula is pretty spectacular. This soap is the bottom one in the photo above, you can see the rustic, primitive appearance of it. I enjoy a soap with character. The rough-spun feel of it in the hands is comforting. Rubbing it on the limbs produces that same viscous and frothy lather that feels nourishing on the skin. I used this on my face and it felt luxurious in its cushiony texture. The aroma mostly came across as honeyed parchment paper and it was lovely.

Mount Osore is tantalizing in soap form. The smoky palo santo fragrance and the silken texture combine for a serene soaping experience. This soap along with the Vatican Archives and Raven Rock are my personal favorites from the set but all five of them are stellar.

Death Valley- Notes: This vast expanse of desert in Eastern California is one of the hottest places on Planet Earth. Juniper berry, juniper branches, creosote bush, helichrysum absolute and tiny wildflowers.
Heady immortelle and scaly juniper needles issue from the amber bottle. This is the scent I was most excited for upon this release. I have been watching Julia harvest and process the juniper by hand and knew it would result in something special. It has. Pressed onto the wrists, dry gin and juniper berries exhale their anhydrous spirits into the ether. Sprigs of herbal tea and dusty hay and camphorous creosote infuse the gin. As it settles the gin wears off and green herbs and florals open up their stems and leaves and pour out their essence. The scent gets fresher and more arid as it dries down. It ends like clean sun baked sand and bleached bones and branches.

Bermuda Triangle- Notes: The Devil's Triangle in the North Atlantic has been the scene of mysterious disappearances for many decades. White coconut, ginger cakes, fresh ginger, red bananas, golden vetiver, creamy almond and cask-aged rum.

From the bottle arises tropical treats of ripe spiced bananas and white coconut flesh. There is a soft undertone of earthiness from the vetiver. The coconut and vetiver combination bring the Black Sands accord to mind but this one is more sweet and mellow. Splashed onto the skin a waft of sweet almond cakes greets the nose. Bermuda quickly takes on the aged and earthy scent of rum casks freshly dug up from a smuggler's island. Clods of sweetgrass cling to the casks and coconut husks make for easy cups to hold the rum. The vetiver eventually ebbs away and the delectable aroma of softly spiced sweet cakes flows in. It is never what I would call a gourmand scent, however. A bit of the hay and sweetgrass and coconut husk lingers faintly within the sweetness.

Raven Rock- Notes: Also known as the Underground Pentagon, this secret bunker in Pennsylvania is where U.S. leaders plan to wait out Armageddon. The green leafiness of the Blue Ridge Mountains with cherry blossoms, white tea and hints of basil, cilantro and dill weed.

This is heavenly in the bottle. Delicately sweet sakura petals and mild herbs tickle the nose. A watery garden. Watered onto the wrists, glossy green basil leaves and feathered dill sprigs spring up. Their perfume is sweetened by pale honeyed tea. Pink cherry blossoms open up amid the tender dill and mellow tea. They yeild a sweet floral aroma that suggests a tranquil meadow of iris and sweet pea. This is truly a beautiful, beautiful fragrance. I am smitten by this herbaceous sylvan beauty. It dries down in a smooth amber musk.

Mount Osore-Notes: Site of a Buddhist temple, legend has it that this active volcano in Japan also contains an entrance to the Land of the Dead. Dark red rose petals, Japanese amber, sooty palo santo and smoking nag champa incense.

From the bottle snakes a cord of watery lotus and earthen palo santo. The palo santo possesses qualities of nicotine to my nose. Very interesting. Poured onto the wrists the palo santo wafts forth much more smoothly with its characteristic creaminess and almost minty coconut freshness. The white smoke darkens as the scent swirls further into the heart. A burning electrical spark ignites and blooms into what smells like ashes from a rose. I have never quite smelled a perfume such as this. It truly does have the emanation of danger. As the perfume settles the nag champa emerges and the burned rose departs, leaving a soothing serene experience.

Unstoppering this elixir releases flickering shadows of blackness, as if slinking up from the chilled stones in the catacombs. Anointed on the skin, the black musky shadows retreat temporarily and honey from the lips of forbidden women drip into the scent, smoother than oil. Papery tendrils of shaved parchment mix with the mild nectar, the descent down into the secret archives is lined with bound vellum books, crumbling antique pages as fragile as moth wings. Their fragrance delicately perfumes the air along with the cedar hewn shelves and the specters of age old incense from visitors past. All these aromas merge into a holy trinity of skin musk that remains elusive and haunting, airy and ancient.

This collection is hugely evocative of each dangerous place they are meant to convey. The soaps are divine and the perfumes are incredible. As I had previously purchased quite a few of these under my own steam, I am offering up a few of these as well as a few traditional Halloween Arcana scents in a giveaway.

I am giving away my personal order I paid for since I ended up using the soaps and perfumes from Julia and kept these unused. Two soaps (Vatican Archives and Death Valley) as well as perfumes in Death Valley, Pumpkins Crave Quietude, Apples Crave Cider and Bermuda Triangle along with a sticker. This is roughly $130 worth of amazing handcrafted product. To enter please leave a comment below with which of these dangerous places you would most like to visit. I would love unlimited access to the Vatican Archives. But it would also be cool to go to Raven Rock and see the top secret Pentagon bunker. And a trip to Japan is always welcome. I missed hiking Mount Fuji when I was there but I could make up for it with checking out Mount Osore.

Please include your email address along with the comment. The winner will be randomly drawn on September 30th. Open to everyone.

91 comments:

HOwwww could you ever pick a favorite from such neat places!? Weird fun fact about me, I find Volcanoes very fascinating and beautiful. It would be so neat to watch one from afar that wasn't endangering anyone, from a safe distance. Though I would have to say I would probably choose Raven Rock to take a peek inside the secret Pentagon bunker and see what they really have going on behind closed doors! My husband loves anything pirate related-pirate history and learning more of the Bermuda Triangle would be interesting too.

Hi Julie! I love how Julia went so outside the box for this fall release! What a unique premise and the scents all sound lovely! If I had to chose a dangerous place, I would love to visit the Vatican Archives. Can you imagine the history in that place? I could probably spend a month there and not even come close to seeing everything. Thanks for an amazing giveaway: sarahvento@yahoo.com <3

I do too Sarah! What a neat concept. I could see more locations following easily if she chose to make a part 2. Visiting the ancient places in Italy does appeal to me. The colosseum the catacombs, so much history.

That's such tough question! The knowledge and book-loving side of me would love to visit the archives and glean from them all I could. What mysteries must live there that few are privy to!

On the other hand, I've always wanted to visit Japan and see everything there. How cool would it be to visit one of their sacred temples. I wonder what it would be like, being so close to a veil between the living and dead?

Like Kierstan I am terribly torn between choosing the Vatican Archives or Mt. Osore. I would really love to visit Japan- the food! the culture! the fact that everyone I've ever spoken to who has gone seems to have had an amazing time there- and a secret gateway to the underworld sounds like a vacation spot that would be just up my alley. But the Vatican Archives... all of the knowledge and secrets tucked away there... if there was any way for me to be granted access to that fiercely guarded hoard of knowledge there is just no way I could pass that up. So I guess my answer has to be the Vatican Archives but if I ever do make it to Japan I'll definitely be keeping Mt. Osore in mind.

Thanks for such lovely reviews and the sweet giveaway opportunity! Also I don't know why it's taken me so long to look up the meaning of 'redolent' but now that I have omg what a perfect layered word choice.

This is such a tough pick! I'm definitely a lapsed Catholic by nature, which draws me to ... All these places, really, but the Vatican archives esoecially. However, the Bermuda Triangle is one of those early memories I have of things laveled as "naughty and arcane" by my grandma, so I think that's the narrow winner.

The Bermuda has always been a little scary to me as a child. I think learning about Amelia Earhart stuck with me. I am still fascinated by her tragedy. I am interested to hear what tales your grandma spun.

These all sound so amazing, but I've always wanted to see the Vatican Archives. My husband tells me Death Valley is incredible, but I doubt I have the stamina for those kind of hikes. I'm really a book girl. Secret books. In secret places.papercrystals(at)gmail(dot)com

What a tough question! Awfully tempted by the Vatican Archives for pure curiosity but I think I’d really have to go with Mount Osore. I’ve never been to Japan and always wanted to go mainly for the tourist spots- food, culture, all the big stops but it sounds like the Buddhist temple would be quite a sight!

I hope I win! I would love to visit the Vatican archives and explore all the secrets buried beneath the layers of velum and manuscripts. I would love to see what the old monks made in medieval monastaries. Tanti.loe@gmail.com

For some reason, the Bermuda Triangle and Death Valley have always fascinated and frightened me ever since I was a child. They're both still very intriguing, but I honestly don't know much about either. I think I'd have to choose Mount Osore, though. I love Japan so very much. <3Thank you for the beyond generous giveaway, Julie! Such an awesome, beautiful collaboration and collection, with amazing hand crafted products, Julia and Brooke have executed and shared with us all. Good luck to all and I can't wait to see who's the lucky winner!ape.mel.resch@gmail.com <3 <3

Oh, how pretty! The soaps look like little sample chunks of super expensive granite or Corian (Corion?) countertop, so pretty (I sort of want to tile my shower with the dark purple one with the blue bits - what gorgeous colours!)

I'd love to step back in time in the Vatican Archives, and explore all the history and mystery it has to offer. After that, head on over to a little Roman sidewalk cafe for a glass of wine, and have time to wrap my head around all that I'd just discovered in the archives! lisa.law@sbcglobal.net

The Vatican Archives is something of a must because of what must be hidden there, but Mount Osore sounds like an incredible location to visit, so I might have to go with that. priscilla.t.aguilera@gmail.com :)

I always enjoy reading your blog so much! Your reviews are so wonderfully descriptive, and these are no exception. Of the dangerous places, I would choose to visit Mount Osore. I lived and traveled extensively in China, but never made it to Japan. My e-mail address is petap888@yahoo.com. Thank you so much for doing this extremely kind and generous giveaway!

First time reader, here! I feel so alive in the mountains, and I enjoy contemplative visits to fabled or symbolic gateways to the dead/underworld/afterlife, so I'd choose Mt Osore. If needed, you can reach me at hana.g.s.sundet@gmail.com

I could really use an island vacation right about now so I have to go with a visit to the Bermuda Triangle. But I would also take Japan, if anyone was handing out trips. ;) lensideout@gmail.com thanks for the contest!